DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke track and field team travels to Raleigh, N.C., to compete in the 2013 ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships April 18-20. Sixty Blue Devils, including six who have earned Outdoor All-ACC honors throughout their careers, will make up the squad for the three-day competition. Duke looks to build on momentum from the indoor season where both the men’s and women’s squads had their best finishes at the conference championship, finishing fifth and third respectively.

Thursday:

The competition will begin Thursday morning with the women’s javelin throw. Senior Andrea Hopkins will be the lone Blue Devil competing in the event. The Lake Oswego, Ore., native won the event two years ago and placed second in 2012.

The multi-event competitions will also kick off in the morning with junior Miray Seward and sophomores Baily Murphy and Karli Johonnot competing in the women’s heptathlon and sophomore Ian Rock and freshman Robert Rohner competing in the men’s decathlon. Rock and Johonnot both competed in full multi-event competitions at the 2013 Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays earlier this spring. Rock earned a personal-best score of 7,030 to finish tenth overall while Johonnot finished 19th in the women’s division, earning 4,849 points.

The discus has been a strong event for the Blue Devils all season with two-time All-ACC honoree Erica Brand representing Duke in the women’s division and All-ACC honoree Austin Gamble breaking his own men’s school record this season. He will be joined by sophomore Stephen Boals, who has also earned strong marks all season.

To close out the field events, senior Emily Mattoon and freshman Megan Clark will compete in the women’s pole vault. Both women have earned personal records this spring with Clark ranking third on Duke’s all-time list and Mattoon ranking fourth.

Friday’s event will kick off with the men’s javelin and will include senior Austin Carpenter and sophomore Zachary Robertshaw.

In other field events, redshirt junior Michelle Anumba will look to defend her crown in the women’s shot put. The 2012 First Team All-America honoree is also the current school record holder in the event. Boals and redshirt sophomore Kyler Shumway will represent Duke in the men’s shot put later in the evening.

Junior Justin Amezquita will compete in the men’s pole vault. The Mountainside, N.J., native narrowly missed All-ACC honors during the indoor season, placing fourth overall and will look to improve on his finish this weekend.

In the running events, sophomore Elizabeth Kerpon and Beach will compete in the 400 prelims to kick off the track competition for the Blue Devils.

The women’s 800 prelims will include senior Cydney Ross, sophomore Abby Farley and freshman Anima Banks. Ross won the event at the 2013 indoor conference championships and is seeking out her first outdoor All-ACC honors. Banks finished third in the event during her first ACC Indoor Championships to garner All-ACC honors.

The final day of competition will be highlighted by the Blue Devils who advanced to the final rounds from the prelims. There will also be several athletes competing for the first time in the weekend, including junior Tanner Anderson and freshman Carl Heinz in the men’s high jump. Anderson is a two-time All-ACC honoree finishing second in the 2012 Outdoor ACC Championships.

The hammer throw will be the final throwing event of the weekend with Duke represented by current school record holder Anumba in the women’s division and school record holder Michael Foley and Shumway in the men’s division.

In the relay events, the women’s 4x100 relay will look to break its own record, which has been set twice already this spring. The team consists of senior LaCresha Styles and sophomores Lauren Hansson, Murphy and Kerpon.

Later in the afternoon, Hansson and Kerpon will be joined later by Ross and sophomore Alexis Roper in the women’s 4x400 relay. To conclude the weekend the men’s 4x400 relay will include Wright, Filipczak, Raskin and Beach.

Live video and live results will be available at selected times throughout the weekend, and a complete recap of each day’s event will be available on www.GoDuke.com